Gemotions

A chill snaked up Leo's arms as he flipped through the old family photo album. The air in his childhood home seemed thin, charged with unspoken emotions. He felt every hair on his neck stand as he found a hidden compartment in the back of the album. Inside, a handwritten letter, his father’s resignation from the Navy, dated just before Leo’s birth. The words, penned with a familiar, deliberate hand, jumped out at him, each sentence a revelation. He sat straighter, unconsciously straightening the spine of the old photo album. His pulse, normally a steady drum, began to tap a frantic rhythm against his ribs. He felt like he could hear the old house settling around him, holding its breath.